Allianz Life sees strong demand for new product

An insurance product of the Korean unit of Allianz Life attracted insurance premiums worth 30 billion won ($25.4 million) in less than two months since its debut on July 1.

The company said Sunday that policyholders’ collective premium for its variable universal insurance product named the Allianz Team Challenge Variable Universal came to 30.21 billion won as of Aug. 21.

A policyholder of the product can select at least one to six out of the product-engaged six asset management firms, composed of Korean and global players. It is designed to reap stable returns through investments in funds, while hedging investment risks under an original insurer function.

The six teams manage customer assets with their respective high-end know-how within the territory of preset risk level and -- in a noteworthy aspect -- compete with each other, said Kim Tae-gyu, the head of the consumer and communications office of the firm.

“The managers are supposed to stay only within 10 percent of their target volatility. Thanks to the prior ceiling, they would abstain from investing in assets with excessively high risks,” he said.

Customers are also allowed to access the performance of each fund manager on a real-time basis through the Alliance Life cyber center at http://cyber.allianzlife.co.kr and to change their manager up to 12 times per year with no service charges.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)